Grand National: Ryan Mania reveals his struggles with weight at the end of his racing career

Ryan Mania celebrating on Auroras Encore after winning the John Smith's Grand National Chase (Image: David Davies/PA Wire)

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Not when he can now relax and share a biscuit with his son, Rowan, when he takes him to visit his great-grandmother.

The 25-year-old may no longer ride horses for a living but his place in the folklore of the world’s greatest race is assured forever. Mania, on his very first attempt two years ago, added his name to an illustrious list of jockeys who have won the Aintree spectacular when he partnered 66-1 shot Auroras Encore.

The lad from Galashiels was also the first Scottish jock to win the race for 117 years. Mania, however, won’t be at Aintree today.

Mania will, of course, miss the buzz of the big day and he’ll always have his memories. But none of them would be worth the hardships and anguish he had to go through in the final days of his riding career.

With nature taking its course, Mania found himself unable to stay under the limit without it having an effect on loved ones. Incredibly, he would go entire days without food and water as he wasted away weight and the strain become too much.

Mania told Record Sport: “It was horrible when the weight issue started to take over. As a jockey, you want to go as long as you can and be the best you can be. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that.

“I thought I was riding okay but I wasn’t at my fittest as I was wasting.

“I was lighter than I should have been and I was doing it wrong.

“There were days when I was going more than 24 hours without food and water while sweating. You are losing seven pounds overnight.

“Then you might not be racing the following day, so you’d have a big meal the next night and put on the seven pounds you lost – and an extra two pounds.

“Every time that happened. It was up and down all of the time. I didn’t always fight it, it was only in the last year.

“When I turned 25, it hit. It had fluctuated in the past but it was always easier to maintain. When you were busy in the winter months, I was always able to keep it constant.

“My heaviest weight wasn’t even too bad but at 25 it got heavy. It happens when you get older. You start filling out. Once you start that, it’s hard to get off it. I’m a father now and it changes things.

“I was seeing my son enough before but when I was, I was a bit miserable because I was always having to lose weight and it was silly things.

“I’d take him to see his great-granny and she’d have the tea and biscuits out. You can’t just go and relax because you look and think, ‘I can’t have that’.

“The whole thing became a bit too much and when it starts to impact on loved ones, you think, ‘Wait a minute, there is more to life than this’. It was mainly all about the weight but there were other factors.”

Mania said: “The world’s best leveller is having something like that happen. The game kicks you when you are down. Look at Jason Maguire. Two years in a row he has missed Cheltenham and Aintree. You could say those two meetings are a major reason why a lot of the boys keep riding, to ride the big winners at the big festivals. If you can’t do that, it takes a bit away.”

Nothing, though, will take away from Mania what he did at Aintree. Even now, he finds it hard to hard to comprehend.

Mania said: “I still think about the 2013 Grand National, yet I still don’t believe it. I tell the story to people when I get asked but it doesn’t make it any more real. It’s like I’m telling someone else’s story.

“Everybody said the same thing at the time. Mick Fitzgerald said on the TV that if he could do one thing, it would be to grab my leg and tell me to enjoy it.

“You know that when you are going through the process. I do remember everything but you don’t take it in, if that makes sense.

“It’s way over your head and you are not prepared for something of that magnitude at all. You can win a race at Cheltenham, even the Gold Cup, but it’s not the National.

“You’d be riding a better quality horse to win a race at Cheltenham but people won’t remember you for that.

“About 400 million worldwide watched the National I won. Even now, I get recognised at silly times. It happens a lot. If you get asked for ID when you are buying alcohol, people see your name and ask, ‘Are you that guy who won the Grand National?’

“I get asked every time in Scotland, never in England.

“Obviously, I’ve got a little thing on my car through sponsorship and people stop me in the petrol station. They don’t recognise me, they just see the car and ask.”

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Mania now doesn’t have to worry about what he eats, more what his hounds are eating.

Changing career, the Scot is now chief kennel huntsman at the Braes of Derwent Hunt near Hexham.

Like racing, it’s a way of life.

But Mania will switch back to Aintree mode today and savour every second with his love of the game and the big day intact.He said: “I wasn’t bitter when I left racing. It was nothing to do with the game when I finished, it was about my body.

“I had some amazing times and I don’t want to forget about them.

“I’m doing TV for the week. I’ve done a course walk and I’ve schooled over the National-type fences with a camera on, so there’s been loads on.

“I’ll be a bit disappointed if the day comes when no one wants to talk to me on Grand National week.

“It certainly gets me excited for the race and it’s nice to know people have not forgotten about me.”

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